I just posted to a thread at digitalfaq.com and thought I'd share some of what I posted there in edited form.

A common question here is about long term storage of "precious" data.

*Note: I posted after VH regular lordsmurf and so I reference some of his points.

Store everything on optical discs (Verbatim or TY as lordsmurf stated) and hard drives. Keep at least one set in a safe deposit box if you have one.

Distribute the optical discs to your family and friends as the most cost effective method, ideally as lordsmurf stated, in different geographic locations to minimize the effect of potential disasters. If they want it on a hard drive, have them pay or share the cost of the drive. More about this below

Tape drives are an additional form of storage only if you have very large (i.e. 10's of terabytes of data) collection or else it won't be cost effective. In addition, the high cost of the drives and continually changing standards makes it difficult to replace in the future.

The cloud, Usenet or your own domain and webspace are an alternative method of storage, but are only part of the 3-2-1 (3 backups, 2 local on different media, 1 offsite).

Getting back to placing the responsibility of storing everything yourself. My ex-girlfriend's family would charge each other for duplicate photo prints. At first I thought this was odd, but I now realize the demand and necessity of those "precious moments" diminishes once a cost is assessed for them. Everyone will line up for free, but the line will shrink once the cost it shared.

The next time you're at an event where a video or slideshow is being viewed by a group. watch the group instead of the show for a while. You'll see a lot of "SQUIRREL!" moments when the group's interest peaks only when it them involves them or their immediate group or family. Have them share in the cost of storage and the willingness to pay shrinks from 10 hours of video to 30 minutes!

Edit: I'm not the most sentimental guy (my brother and sisters meet once a year in memory of our parents), but last year when we were cleaning our family home, we looked through and distributed the family photos. Of the hundreds of photos, I walked away with 5 or 6, all from my youngest years. The rest (as well as the other family heirlooms) were placed in my oldest sister's care for storage at her home. A perfect example of "It's precious to me, but not enough to justify using my limited space and finances to keep!"